No meeting with MQM leader in London: Shahbaz

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif accompanied with his delegation left for London here today, Geo News reported.

Shahbaz Sharif at Islamabad airport talking to media said that the news relating to his meeting with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader in London based on speculations and added that he during his tour would be holding talks with the British leadership on matters relating to education, health and Punjab development programs.

Punjab chief minister further said that his Britain tour would further strengthen bilateral ties and spur progress and prosperity in the country.

Dutch thrash Pakistan in Four Nations tournament

AMSTERDAM: The Netherlands continued their build-up for the European Championship with a 4-0 victory over Pakistan that saw them claim the Four Nations tournament, which also included England and Germany.
The English, who are the current European champions, came back twice to beat the Germans 3-2 and take second spot, while reigning Olympic champions Germany came third ahead of the winless Pakistanis.
Holland, who came third behind Australia and Germany at last year’s World Cup, were out of the blocks early with Jeroen Hertzberger putting them ahead in the 10th minute.
Pakistan, though, were angered by the quickly taken sideline injection by Floris Evers that led to the goal.
Roderick Weusthof grabbed a second on 27 minutes with a penalty flick but there was more controversy ahead of the Netherlands’ third, which came on the stroke of half-time.
The game was held up as the Pakistanis protested against a Dutch penalty corner as the half-time hooter sounded. Weusthof converted to make it 3-0 at the break.
“Our target was to score three more goals in the second half but the energy went out of the game and I think Pakistan gave up on the game a little,” said Netherlands coach Paul van As.
Dutch keeper Klass Veering saved two penalty corners in the second half, Hertzberger adding a fourth in the 57th minute with a rebound off the pads of Salman Sakbar.
“We managed to hurt them with our early goal and they did not hurt us in any way in the match,” added van As.
“We did a tremendous job in the first half and I was very pleased with our performance there.”Pakistan manager Khawaja Junaid said his team lost heart after the first goal.
“That was the time when it became difficult to implement our plan,” he said.
“But we played well in patches and had many chances in the second half which we could not put away.”
Earlier, England produced a gutsy performance to come back twice from a goal down to beat Germany 3-2.

Osama had support mechanism in Abbottabad: Tom Donilon

 WASHINGTON: US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "had some sort of support mechanism" while operating out of Abbottabad, for six years.

In an interview with CNN, Donilon said he had not seen evidence that Pakistani "leadership elements" had knowledge of bin Laden's presence in Pakistan.

"But the fact is that he operated there for an extended period of time, and that raises a lot of questions," Donilon said. "And those questions are being asked in Pakistan."